BOMA 2017 Office Standard – implemented!

Having just received the much-anticipated new BOMA 2017 Office Standards, we quickly went to work here at Lasertech Floorplans to digest, as well as implement, the new Standard, so as we could offer this to our clients, both old and new. Since implementing in October, we have done dozens of conversions already, and it seems most all new projects are requiring BOMA 2017 as the preferred Standard for Office buildings.

Our experience to date has shown that each building is different, but most buildings will see an increase in their total RSF to some degree, we’ve had anywhere from about 0.25% to over 5% increase. Typically all buildings will have an increase due to the inclusion of former vertical penetrations (non-rentable, stairs, elevators, etc) on the lowest level of a building within the Rentable area now. However, with the removal of ‘public pedestrian thoroughfares’, this can offset the gains. We have seen 1 case where the new Rentable actually decreased overall!

Of course the big potential gain is for buildings with balconies and/or rooftop terraces, as these areas can now be included. Note that ground floor patios and terraces are NOT included, and neither are ground floor unenclosed public gallery areas.

For a quick analysis of any existing buildings we may have done in the past please give us a call, we’d be happy to review and give you an estimate as to overall impact, to see if it might be worth your while to convert. We have set our fees for doing conversions, as well as for new surveys to this new BOMA 2017 Office Standard, and we are recommending all building owners move to this Standard over time.